You have seen our take on the impressively powerful and ext remely expensive i7-6950X but of course we were not the on ly ones to test out Intel's new top of the line proces sor. Hardware Canucks focused on the difference between t he ~$1700 i7-6950X and the ~$1100 i7-6900K. From synthet ic benchmarks such as AIDA through gaming at 720p and 1080 p, they tested the two processors against each other to se e when it would make sense to spend the extra money on the new Broadwell-E chip. Check out what they thought of the chip overall as well as the scenarios where they felt it would be full utilized.
BROADWELL-E-6.png
"10 cores, 20 threads, over $1700; Intel's Broadwe ll-E i7-6950X delivers obscene performance at an eye-water ing price. Then there's the i7-6900K which boasts all the same niceties in a more affordable package."
Here are some more Processor articles from around the web:
You have seen our take on the impressively powerful and ext remely expensive i7-6950X but of course we were not the on ly ones to test out Intel's new top of the line proces sor. Hardware Canucks focused on the difference between t he ~$1700 i7-6950X and the ~$1100 i7-6900K. From synthet ic benchmarks such as AIDA through gaming at 720p and 1080 p, they tested the two processors against each other to se e when it would make sense to spend the extra money on the new Broadwell-E chip. Check out what they thought of the chip overall as well as the scenarios where they felt it would be full utilized.
BROADWELL-E-6.png
"10 cores, 20 threads, over $1700; Intel's Broadwe ll-E i7-6950X delivers obscene performance at an eye-water ing price. Then there's the i7-6900K which boasts all the same niceties in a more affordable package."
Here are some more Processor articles from around the web:
Report: AMD Socket AM4 Compatible with Existing AM2/AM3 Coo lers
Subject: Cases and Cooling, Processors | May 25, 2016 - 12: 54 PM | Sebastian Peak Tagged: Zen, socket AM3, cpu cooler, amd, AM4
Upgrading to the upcoming Zen processors won't require the purchase of a new cooler or adapter, according to a re port from Computer Base (German language).
amd_wraith.jpg
The AMD Wraith Cooler (image credit: The Tech Report)
Answering a customer question on Facebook, a Thermalright r epresentative responded (translated):
"For all AMD fans, we have good news. As we advance AM D has assured the new AM4 processors and motherboards are put on the usual base-fixing, which is standard for AM2. T o follow all the Thermalright coolers are used on the Zen processors without additional accessories!"
This news is hardly surprising considering AMD has used the same format for some time, much as Intel's current CP Us still work with coolers designed for LGA 1156.
It seems only yesterday that we had the first major GPU rel eased on 16nm FF and now we are talking about ARM about t o receive their first 10nm FF test chips! Well, in fact i t was yesterday that NVIDIA formally released performance figures on the latest GeForce GTX 1080 which is based on T SMC’s 16nm FF process technology. Currently TSMC is goin g full bore on their latest process node and producing the fastest current gr
Subject: Graphics Cards, Processors, Mobile | June 6, 2016 - 07:11 AM | Scott Michaud Tagged: hsa 1.1, hsa
The HSA Foundation released version 1.1 of their specificat ion, which focuses on “multi-vendor” compatibility. In thi s case, multi-vendor doesn't refer to companies that r efused to join the HSA Foundation, namely Intel and NVIDIA , but rather multiple types of vendors. Rather than aligni ng with AMD's focus on CPU-GPU interactions, HSA 1.1 i ncludes digital signal processors (DSPs), field-programmab le gate arrays (FPGAs), and other accelerators. I can see this being useful in several places, especially on mobile, where cameras, sound processors, and CPU cores, and a GPU regularly share video buffers.
HSA Foundation_Logo.png
That said, the specification also mentions “more efficient interoperation with non-HSA compliant devices”. I'm no t quite sure what that specifically refers to, but it coul d be important to keep an eye on for future details -- whe ther it is relevant for Intel and NVIDIA hardware (and so forth).
Charlie, down at SemiAccurate, notes that HSA 1.1 will run on all HSA 1.0-compliant hardware. This makes sense, but I can't see where this is explicitly mentioned in their press release. I'm guessing that Charlie was given so me time on a conference call (or face-to-face) regarding t his, but it's also possible that he may be mistaken. I t's also possible that it is explicitly mentioned in t he HSA Foundation's press blast and I just fail at rea ding comprehension.
If so, I'm sure that our comments will highlight my err or.
Subject: Graphics Cards, Processors, Mobile | June 6, 2016 - 07:11 AM | Scott Michaud Tagged: hsa 1.1, hsa
The HSA Foundation released version 1.1 of their specificat ion, which focuses on “multi-vendor” compatibility. In thi s case, multi-vendor doesn't refer to companies that r efused to join the HSA Foundation, namely Intel and NVIDIA , but rather multiple types of vendors. Rather than aligni ng with AMD's focus on CPU-GPU interactions, HSA 1.1 i ncludes digital signal processors (DSPs), field-programmab le gate arrays (FPGAs), and other accelerators. I can see this being useful in several places, especially on mobile, where cameras, sound processors, and CPU cores, and a GPU regularly share video buffers.
HSA Foundation_Logo.png
That said, the specification also mentions “more efficient interoperation with non-HSA compliant devices”. I'm no t quite sure what that specifically refers to, but it coul d be important to keep an eye on for future details -- whe ther it is relevant for Intel and NVIDIA hardware (and so forth).
Charlie, down at SemiAccurate, notes that HSA 1.1 will run on all HSA 1.0-compliant hardware. This makes sense, but I can't see where this is explicitly mentioned in their press release. I'm guessing that Charlie was given so me time on a conference call (or face-to-face) regarding t his, but it's also possible that he may be mistaken. I t's also possible that it is explicitly mentioned in t he HSA Foundation's press blast and I just fail at rea ding comprehension.
If so, I'm sure that our comments will highlight my err or.
It is no secret that AMD has faced an uphill battle since t he release of the original Core 2 processors from Intel. While stayed mostly competitive through the Phenom II year s, they hit some major performance issues when moving to t he Bulldozer architecture. While on paper the idea of Chi p Multi-Threading sounded fantastic, AMD was never able to get the per thread performance up to expectations. While their CPUs performed well in heavily multi-threaded appli cations, they just were never seen in as positive of a lig ht as the competing Intel products.
br_01.png
The other part of the performance equation that has hammere d AMD is the lack of a new process node that would allow i t to more adequately compete with Intel. When AMD was at 32 nm PD-SOI, Intel had introduced its 22nm TriGate/FinFET . AMD then transitioned to a 28nm HKMG planar process tha t was more size optimized than 32nm, but did not drastical ly improve upon power and transistor switching performance.
So AMD had a double whammy on their hands with an underperf orming architecture and limitted to no access to advanced process nodes that would actually improve their power and speed situation. They could not force their foundry partn ers to spend billions on a crash course in FinFET technolo gy to bring that to market faster, so they had to iterate and innovate on their designs.
Subject: Processors | May 5, 2016 - 03:26 PM | Scott Michaud Tagged: Intel, Broadwell-E
NVIDIA is not the only one with leaked benchmarks this week -- it's Intel's turn!
Silicon Lottery down at the Overclock.net forums got their hands on the ten-core, twenty-thread, Intel Core i7-6950X. Because Silicon Lottery is all about buying CPUs, testing how they overclock, and reselling them, it looks like eac h of these results are overclocked. The base clock is list ed as 3.0 GHz, but the tests were performed at 4.0 GHz or higher.
intel-2016-siliconlottery-broadwelle-oc.png
Image Credit: Silicon Lottery via Overclock.net
They only had access to a single CPU, but they were able to get a “24/7” stable overclock at 4.3 GHz, pushed to 4.5 G Hz for a benchmark or two. This could vary from part to pa rt, as this all depends on microscopic errors that were ma de during manufacturing, and bigger chips have more surfac e area to run into them. These tiny imprecisions can requi re excess voltage to hit higher frequencies, causing a per formance variation between parts. Too much, and the manufa cturer will laser-cut under-performing cores, if possible, and sell it as a lesser part. That said, Silicon Lottery said that performance ran into a wall at some point, which sounds like an architectural limitation.
You have seen our take on the impressively powerful and ext remely expensive i7-6950X but of course we were not the on ly ones to test out Intel's new top of the line proces sor. Hardware Canucks focused on the difference between t he ~$1700 i7-6950X and the ~$1100 i7-6900K. From synthet ic benchmarks such as AIDA through gaming at 720p and 1080 p, they tested the two processors against each other to se e when it would make sense to spend the extra money on the new Broadwell-E chip. Check out what they thought of the chip overall as well as the scenarios where they felt it would be full utilized.
BROADWELL-E-6.png
"10 cores, 20 threads, over $1700; Intel's Broadwe ll-E i7-6950X delivers obscene performance at an eye-water ing price. Then there's the i7-6900K which boasts all the same niceties in a more affordable package."
Here are some more Processor articles from around the web:
Report: AMD Socket AM4 Compatible with Existing AM2/AM3 Coo lers
Subject: Cases and Cooling, Processors | May 25, 2016 - 12: 54 PM | Sebastian Peak Tagged: Zen, socket AM3, cpu cooler, amd, AM4
Upgrading to the upcoming Zen processors won't require the purchase of a new cooler or adapter, according to a re port from Computer Base (German language).
amd_wraith.jpg
The AMD Wraith Cooler (image credit: The Tech Report)
Answering a customer question on Facebook, a Thermalright r epresentative responded (translated):
"For all AMD fans, we have good news. As we advance AM D has assured the new AM4 processors and motherboards are put on the usual base-fixing, which is standard for AM2. T o follow all the Thermalright coolers are used on the Zen processors without additional accessories!"
This news is hardly surprising considering AMD has used the same format for some time, much as Intel's current CP Us still work with coolers designed for LGA 1156.
It seems only yesterday that we had the first major GPU rel eased on 16nm FF and now we are talking about ARM about t o receive their first 10nm FF test chips! Well, in fact i t was yesterday that NVIDIA formally released performance figures on the latest GeForce GTX 1080 which is based on T SMC’s 16nm FF process technology. Currently TSMC is goin g full bore on their latest process node and producing the fastest current gr
You have seen our take on the impressively powerful and ext remely expensive i7-6950X but of course we were not the on ly ones to test out Intel's new top of the line proces sor. Hardware Canucks focused on the difference between t he ~$1700 i7-6950X and the ~$1100 i7-6900K. From synthet ic benchmarks such as AIDA through gaming at 720p and 1080 p, they tested the two processors against each other to se e when it would make sense to spend the extra money on the new Broadwell-E chip. Check out what they thought of the chip overall as well as the scenarios where they felt it would be full utilized.
BROADWELL-E-6.png
"10 cores, 20 threads, over $1700; Intel's Broadwe ll-E i7-6950X delivers obscene performance at an eye-water ing price. Then there's the i7-6900K which boasts all the same niceties in a more affordable package."
Here are some more Processor articles from around the web:
Subject: Processors | May 5, 2016 - 03:26 PM | Scott Michaud Tagged: Intel, Broadwell-E
NVIDIA is not the only one with leaked benchmarks this week -- it's Intel's turn!
Silicon Lottery down at the Overclock.net forums got their hands on the ten-core, twenty-thread, Intel Core i7-6950X. Because Silicon Lottery is all about buying CPUs, testing how they overclock, and reselling them, it looks like eac h of these results are overclocked. The base clock is list ed as 3.0 GHz, but the tests were performed at 4.0 GHz or higher.
intel-2016-siliconlottery-broadwelle-oc.png
Image Credit: Silicon Lottery via Overclock.net
They only had access to a single CPU, but they were able to get a “24/7” stable overclock at 4.3 GHz, pushed to 4.5 G Hz for a benchmark or two. This could vary from part to pa rt, as this all depends on microscopic errors that were ma de during manufacturing, and bigger chips have more surfac e area to run into them. These tiny imprecisions can requi re excess voltage to hit higher frequencies, causing a per formance variation between parts. Too much, and the manufa cturer will laser-cut under-performing cores, if possible, and sell it as a lesser part. That said, Silicon Lottery said that performance ran into a wall at some point, which sounds like an architectural limitation.